Belgrade’s Dodeskaden (2)
€100–€600
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The photograph I posted on Facebook opened an unexpected path into the history of this place. Thanks to the people who recognized it, I learned that this unusual ravine in Zemun is called Laudon’s Trench. I had never heard the name before, so I began to explore where it comes from and what it actually means.
The trench was named after the Austrian general Gideon von Laudon, one of the most renowned military commanders of the 18th century. In the era when the Habsburg and Ottoman empires stood face to face along the Sava and Danube, Zemun was a fortified border zone. Defensive lines were built across the terrain — earthworks, ditches, and trenches designed to slow down advancing armies and to provide a vantage point. This ravine was one of them, shaped according to the principles that made Laudon famous.
Its military purpose has long vanished, but the form has survived. Nearly three centuries later, the trench still carves a deep line between two hills — a space city planners never fully integrated. Over time, the depression filled with different lives and fates, people who settled here with whatever the circumstances allowed. That is how this settlement emerged: improvised houses, patched roofs of tin and tarpaulin, yards sliding into the hillside as if the terrain itself dictated their shape.
This new black-and-white photograph shows what the place looks like up close. The muddy path cutting through the shacks, the leaning poles and improvised fences, the scattered objects, the thin smoke rising from makeshift chimneys — all of it forms a scene that is both harsh and unmistakably alive. The monochrome rendering emphasizes the structure of the space: bright roofs, dark shadows, layers of textures that are invisible from afar. And the small human figures on the path remind us that everyday life continues here, no matter how fragile or improvised.
Laudon’s Trench is no longer a fortification. It is a memory etched into the land — of history, neglect, and the people who carved out a home in a place that was never meant to be one. Seen from above, the past and present, the ancient ditch and today’s settlement, align along the same line of earth.
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SR
Fotografija koju sam objavio na Facebooku otvorila mi je neočekivani put u istoriju ovog prostora. Zahvaljujući ljudima koji su je videli, saznao sam da se ova neobična udolina u Zemunu zove Laudonov šanac. To ime sam čuo prvi put, pa sam počeo da istražujem odakle potiče i šta zapravo znači.
Laudonov šanac dobio je naziv po austrijskom generalu Gideonu von Laudonu, jednom od najpoznatijih vojskovođa iz doba Marije Terezije. U 18. veku, u vreme stalnih napetosti između Habsburške monarhije i Osmanskog carstva, kroz Zemun je prolazila važna granična linija. Uz nju su nastajali rovovi, zemljani bedemi i šanci — odbrambene strukture koje su služile da uspore napredovanje vojske i omoguće pregled terena. Ovaj jarak je bio jedan od njih, deo odbrambenog sistema projektovanog po ugledu na Laudonove zamisli.
Vreme je odavno izbrisalo njegovu vojnu svrhu, ali ne i njegov oblik. Danas, gotovo tri veka kasnije, taj rov i dalje postoji kao duboka rana u terenu, udolina između dva zemunska brda koju urbanisti nikada nisu potpuno ispravili. U tu pukotinu grada, tokom decenija, slivale su se sudbine ljudi koje život nije mazio. Tako je nastalo naselje koje je više improvizacija nego plan: kuće sklepane od raznobojnih materijala, krovovi zakrpljeni ceradama i limom, dvorišta koja su se stopila sa strminom kao da im je to oduvek bilo predviđeno.
Ova nova, crno-bela fotografija prikazuje izbliza kako taj prostor danas izgleda. Blatnjavi put koji vijuga između kuća, krivi telefoni stubovi, gomile odbačenih predmeta, dim koji se uzdiže iz samogradnje — sve to stvara prizor koji je istovremeno težak i zadivljujuće živ. Crno-bela obrada naglašava strukturu ovog naselja: kontrast između svetlih krovova i tamnih senki otkriva slojeve koji se izdaleka ne vide, a ljudske figure na putu podsećaju da se, uprkos svemu, ovde vodi svakodnevni život.
Laudonov šanac danas nije utvrđenje, već sećanje — na prošlost, na neizbrisiv trag u reljefu, ali i na ljude koji su u toj udolini pronašli svoj dom. Gledajući ga odozgo, nemoguće je ne pomisliti kako se istorija i sadašnjost, nekadašnji rov i današnje naselje, prepliću u jednoj istoj liniji zemlje.